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Subject-Specific League Tables and Students' Application Decisions

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  • Arnaud Chevalier
  • Xiaoxuan Jia

Abstract

Do applicants to higher education rely on expert judgement about the quality of the course when applying? Using application data across UK universities over a period of 8 years, we investigate how league tables affect prospective students’ application decisions. We use subject specific ranking rather than the commonly used institution level ranking. We find that a one standard deviation change in the subject-level ranking score of an institution is associated with on average a 4.3% increase in application numbers per faculty. This effect is particularly pronounced among faculties with the best scores, and overseas applicants. Limits to the number of applications have increased the preponderance of league tables.
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Suggested Citation

  • Arnaud Chevalier & Xiaoxuan Jia, 2016. "Subject-Specific League Tables and Students' Application Decisions," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(5), pages 600-620, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:manchs:v:84:y:2016:i:5:p:600-620
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/manc.12124
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    Cited by:

    1. Gibbons, Stephen & Neumayer, Eric & Perkins, Richard, 2015. "Student satisfaction, league tables and university applications: Evidence from Britain," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 148-164.
    2. Jacqmin, Julien, 2019. "Providing MOOCs: A FUN way to enroll students?," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 32-39.
    3. Rhys J. Williams, 2022. "The effect of casual teaching on student satisfaction: evidence from the UK," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 91-111, January.
    4. Jacqmin, Julien & Lefebvre, Mathieu, 2021. "The effect of international accreditations on students’ revealed preferences: Evidence from French Business schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    5. Biancardi, Daniele & Bratti, Massimiliano, 2019. "The effect of introducing a Research Evaluation Exercise on student enrolment: Evidence from Italy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 73-93.
    6. Biancardi, Daniele & Bratti, Massimiliano, 2018. "The Effect of the First Italian Research Evaluation Exercise on Student Enrolment Choices," IZA Discussion Papers 11302, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Nils Braakmann & Barbara Eberth, 2024. "Can unions impose costs on employers in education strikes? Evidence from pension disputes in UK universities," Papers 2401.05183, arXiv.org.

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    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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